Thread: MDF, Bunnings Plywood or Birch Ply for Jigs

Its a shame Melamine laminated MDF isn't widely available, that way it would do away with having to seal the bloody jigs, that would only leave the edges to be sealed!.

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

G'day Greg, Very interesting to read about the baltic birch ply warping only after 2 years, thats shocking!. It seems the Americans swear by the stuff but I've only ever read how much of a problem the stuff can be here in Australia.

Actually I was living in Canada at the time, and the ply was genuine Soviet 13 ply (I think) sheets.They came in he european 1.5 x 1.5 sheets.

On some of the higher end American sites there are plenty of horror stories about plywood doors warping, sometimes after being draped with thousands of dollars in veneer. Even their vaunted ApplePly warps, and even ApplePly themselves tell you not to use it for doors (after the sale). Birch ply is still the best plywood you can get, but nothing matches the stability of MDF because it has no internal stresses. That said, I am keen to hear more about this Valchromat material.

Originally Posted by Greg Q

Actually I was living in Canada at the time, and the ply was genuine Soviet 13 ply (I think) sheets.They came in he european 1.5 x 1.5 sheets.

On some of the higher end American sites there are plenty of horror stories about plywood doors warping, sometimes after being draped with thousands of dollars in veneer. Even their vaunted ApplePly warps, and even ApplePly themselves tell you not to use it for doors (after the sale). Birch ply is still the best plywood you can get, but nothing matches the stability of MDF because it has no internal stresses. That said, I am keen to hear more about this Valchromat material.

Interesting stuff. Valchromat is available over here from the big green box store but only on special order I think. Its expensive but looks really good from what I've read. Another thing I would like to have a go at is laminating and veneering MDF. This I imagine would open up a whole new ball game I dare say...

If you are after guaranteed-good ply and MDF in many forms, do try TimberWood.com.au

I've used them many times and they are brilliant.

All of their products also can be ordered with veneers of two dozen kinds.

They also offer MRMDF, hoop pine, birch ply and a FULL range of real hardwood ply. They ply these all up for you and their prices are excellent.

When I was doing commercial work Id use them exclusively. Their MDF is absolutely superior. Their Ply was ppeerrffeecctt every times, they make for high-end projects and don't fool around.


They sell to the plebs too

Originally Posted by woodPixel

If you are after guaranteed-good ply and MDF in many forms, do try TimberWood.com.au

I've used them many times and they are brilliant.

All of their products also can be ordered with veneers of two dozen kinds.

They also offer MRMDF, hoop pine, birch ply and a FULL range of real hardwood ply. They ply these all up for you and their prices are excellent.

When I was doing commercial work Id use them exclusively. Their MDF is absolutely superior. Their Ply was ppeerrffeecctt every times, they make for high-end projects and don't fool around.


They sell to the plebs too

Thanks for your reply and suggestion mate

Ironically I live no more than 25 minutes from these people. Anyone else had experience with these blokes/Gals?.

Originally Posted by EagerBeaver71

Any chance of some photo's up on here to take a look?.

Here we go

So far so good! You can see the remnants of the old dog kennel on the underside!

This first shows the general construction - its pretty much like every other sled! It's based off the instructions made by "Fix this build that"


IMG_8444.jpg

Below is the detail of the T track set into the rear fence. The rear fence is 2x25mm pieces of plywood laminated together. You can see the chamfer under the bottom of the fence ta capture saw dust without interfering with the face of the fence.

IMG_8447.jpg

Below is the underside ... with the remnants of the dog kennel showing! This piece didn't warp in 5 years ... it did a little after cutting but the weight of the fence straightened it up! Let's see how it lasts ...

IMG_8448.jpg

Details of the runners. Just 12mm plywood, let's see how they last!

IMG_8449.jpg

Originally Posted by mote

Here we go

So far so good! You can see the remnants of the old dog kennel on the underside!

This first shows the general construction - its pretty much like every other sled! It's based off the instructions made by "Fix this build that"


IMG_8444.jpg

Below is the detail of the T track set into the rear fence. The rear fence is 2x25mm pieces of plywood laminated together. You can see the chamfer under the bottom of the fence ta capture saw dust without interfering with the face of the fence.

IMG_8447.jpg

Below is the underside ... with the remnants of the dog kennel showing! This piece didn't warp in 5 years ... it did a little after cutting but the weight of the fence straightened it up! Let's see how it lasts ...

IMG_8448.jpg

Details of the runners. Just 12mm plywood, let's see how they last!

IMG_8449.jpg

Love it mate!. I'm guessing the dog wasn't too impressed nicking his roof! . Did you do the 5 cut method for aligning the fence to be perfect 90?.

I'm just starting out (bought my first table saw just yesterday!) and so am going to start building a few jigs. Cross cut sled is first and this thread gives a lot of inspiration. Where do people buy their T-track and hardware from?

Originally Posted by mrkookz

Where do people buy their T-track and hardware from?

I bought my track and hardware from Timbecon and so far happy with it, but I'm only just beginning

I'm about to make a mini router table for my Milwaukee cordless trim router out of MDF. I can only get 16mm around here, so want to laminate two layers together, at least around the router mounting plate. I've seen recommendations that epoxy be used when laminating MDF, as the moisture from normal wood glue may cause it to warp, is this true?

Originally Posted by 62woollybugger

I've seen recommendations that epoxy be used when laminating MDF, as the moisture from normal wood glue may cause it to warp, is this true?

Hi Woollybugger,
This is a very good question, I used Titebond III and noticed a very slight warp, though I think it may have been because I applied too much of the stuff!. I'll upload some photo's when I get time.

(love the name hahaha!)

I bought a 1200 x 450 x 16 sheet of MDF a couple of weeks ago, for the router table & I think the only way I'll get it to stop moving is to shoot it. It's bowed in both directions, around 5-6mm along the length & around 2mm across. Is formply more stable than ordinary ply?

Here's the link to my final crosscut sled build:

My take on the Crosscut Sled